Border opening negotiation should consider daily commuters - Hasni

It is understood that currently, the two-party negotiation is focused on the first category, involving those in the professional, business and private sectors, and the second category involving about 25,000 Malaysians who are still in Singapore, following the closure of the border since the COVID-19 outbreak.

Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Ir Hasni Mohammad said the opening of the border was an important step which could also help boost the tourism sector in the state.

“Probably at the beginning, we (the government) will allow the Reciprocal Green Lane (first category) and periodic commuters, involving over 20,000 (second category) Malaysians who are in Singapore (to be able to) to travel to and from Singapore for work purposes.

"(But) Johor feels that the Malaysia-Singapore agreement for daily commuters (involving over 200,000) should also be speeded up as this would create a huge impact (on the economy)," he told reporters after chairing the first Ibrahim Johor Economic Council (IJEC) meeting here, today.

Late last month, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein was reported as saying that the Malaysia-Singapore border would be opened gradually depending on health issues between the two countries.

According to him, the first and second categories would be given priority in the early stages of the announcement and the border crossing issues would be settled soon.

However, negotiations on the opening of the border for the third and fourth categories, involving between 200,000 and 250,000 people who commute daily for work, would take time as it was more complex and would mean full border opening between the two countries.